Iphiclus

Iphiclus
Iphiclus sulphurifer, type species of the disputed subgenus Habrodactylus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Polyphaga
Infraorder:	Cucujiformia
Family:	Erotylidae
Genus:	Iphiclus Chevrolat, 18371
Type species
Erotylus flavovittatus Duponchel, 1825
Synonyms
Acronotus Lacordaire, 1842 (non Smith, 1827: preoccupied) Barytopus Lacordaire, 1842 Brachymerus Chevrolat, 1837 Brachysphaenus Kuhnt, 1909 Brachysphenus Gorham, 1888 Brachysphoenus Lacordaire, 1842 Charidemus Gistel, 1848 Megaprotus Lacordaire, 1842 Morphoides Hope, 1841 Morphoides Crotch, 1876 (non Hope, 1841: preoccupied) Neobarytopus Alvarenga, 1965 Oogaster Lacordaire, 1842 (non Falderman, 1840: preoccupied) Saccomorphus Chevrolat, 1837

Iphiclus is a large genus – possibly the most diverse – in the pleasing fungus beetle family (Erotylidae). This genus belongs to subfamily Erotylinae and occurs across the Neotropics.²³ Its almost 300 named species are divided into several subgenera, whose monophyly (and validity), however, remains to be determined.¹ Most of these beetles, as adults as well as as larvae, feed on polypores (shelf fungi).⁴

The genus name was established by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in 1837.⁵⁶ Chevrolat's name was, however, overshadowed by the extensive study of Jean Théodore Lacordaire a few years later, who described most of the currently-known species and introduced the genus name Brachysphoenus. That genus name, or spelling variants thereof, was generally used by subsequent authors – namely in the seminal works on the genus by George Robert Crotch in the mid-1870s, Henry Stephen Gorham in the late 1880s, Paul Kuhnt around 1910, Leopold Mader around 1940, and Jacintho Guérin in 1956 –, until Iphiclus was reinstated by Moacyr Alvarenga in the 1960s.¹

Iphiclus unites species whose adults are generally similar to Erotylus and other close relatives. However, they can be recognized by an elongated oval shape and elytra which are usually only slightly convex (unlike some relatives such as Aegithus, which are almost hemispherical); the base of the pronotum has at least a weak – in some, a pronounced – medial lobe, and the legs are of moderate length. On the head of Ischyrus, the compound eyes are finely faceted, the clypeus is short and wedge-shaped with a wide base, the mentum has a triangular plate, and the ends of the maxillary palps are widened to a triangle shape.⁶

The division into subgenera must be considered provisional.¹ As of the early 21st century, even the monophyly of the genus as such is not considered likely anymore; some subgenera (in particular Habrodactylus) are probably paraphyletic, while others (such as Megaprotus) seem to warrant recognition as distinct genera.⁴

Subgenus Iphiclus (Aegithomorphus) Lacordaire, 1842 – southeastern Brazil. Type species: I.biplagiatus.

• Iphiclus biplagiatus (Guérin-Méneville, 1841)
• Iphiclus dorsomaculatus (Lacordaire, 1842)

Subgenus Iphiclus (Brachymerus) Chevrolat, 1837 (= Barytopus, Neobarytopus) – lowlands and foothills from Guatemala to northern Argentina. Type species: I.nitidulus. Close to subgenus Megaprotus and genus Prepopharus.⁴

Subgenus Iphiclus (Habrodactylus) Lacordaire, 1842 – lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Type species: I.sulphurifer. Probably a paraphyletic assemblage, with I.conspicillatus basal to the entire assemblage of Iphiclus and related genera, and others placed in this subgenus close to genus Ellipticus and Erotylina. Some are patterned with eyespots; others are largely brownish with little black patterning. Larvae feed individually in some species, but as a group in I.conspicillatus.⁴

Subgenus Iphiclus (Iphiclus) Chevrolat, 1837 – lowlands and foothills from Guatelama to northern Paraguay. Type species: I.flavovittatus. Close to subgenus Saccomorphus and genus Erotylina. Some are patterned with eyespots. Larvae feed individually?⁴

Subgenus Iphiclus (Megaprotus) Lacordaire, 1842 – lowlands and foothills from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Type species: I.signatus. Close to subgenus Brachymerus and genus Prepopharus. Some are patterned with eyespots. Larvae feed individually?⁴

Subgenus Iphiclus (Neacronotus) Alvarenga, 1965 (= Acronotus Lacordaire, 1842 (non Smith, 1827: preoccupied)) – Colombia; doubtful record from Mexico. Type species: I.annularis.

• Iphiclus annularis (Laporte, 1840)
• Iphiclus bimaculicollis (Mader, 1942)
• Iphiclus colombi (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
• Iphiclus perversus (Gorham, 1889)

Subgenus Iphiclus (Neomorphoides) Alvarenga, 1977 (= Morphoides Crotch, 1876 (non Hope, 1841: preoccupied)) – lowlands and foothills from Guatemala to southern Brazil. Type species: I.simplex.

Subgenus Iphiclus (Neoogaster) Alvarenga, 1965 (= Oogaster Lacordaire, 1842 (non Falderman, 1840: preoccupied)) – Guadeloupe and Dominica⁷ (Lesser Antilles) and possibly adjacent islands; a record from French Guiana is erroneous. Resemble Aegithus in coloration, being black with unpatterned tan elytra, but are overall flatter and narrower in shape; larvae also similar to Aegithus. Type species: I.guadeloupensis.⁶

• Iphiclus guadeloupensis (Fabricius, 1792) (= I.marginatus)
• Iphiclus suturalis (Lacordaire, 1842)

Subgenus Iphiclus (Saccomorphus) Chevrolat , 1837 (= Charidemus, Morphoides Hope, 1841) – lowlands and foothills from Panama to northern Argentina and Chile. Type species: I.limbatus. Close to genus Erotylina. At least some seem to eat a wider range of fungi than other species placed in Iphiclus.⁴

Subgenus Iphiclus (Sternolobus) Guérin-Méneville, 1841 – eastern Andes foothills from Venezuela to northern Peru. Type species: I.bisignatus.

• Iphiclus atricaudatus (Kuhnt, 1910)
• Iphiclus bisignatus (Guérin-Méneville, 1841)
• Iphiclus dispilotus (Lacordaire, 1842)
• Iphiclus ecuadorensis (Crotch, 1876)
• Iphiclus ellipticus (Kuhnt, 1910)
• Iphiclus luscus (Erichson, 1847)
• Iphiclus oblongosignatus (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)

Iphiclus virgatus was long placed in genus Mycotretus, but while it does seem to belong into Iphiclus, as of 2023 its precise relationships were still undetermined.⁸